At what distance to you begin to "expect" to make putts?

[lazebone]

Lol !! I must say, I have enjoyed the wit and honesty of this thread.


However,most who play this game as a profession will tell you that there is no magical number in which putts are meant to be made.

In fact, there may be a 7 footer that sets up to the eye much more than a curvy 3 foot down-hiller.

The point is that there are putts that catch the eye of each golfer. I'm sure that with you, just as with me there are some rounds where you feel like you are lucky to make that left to right 2 footer, and then there are those where that 25 foot putt looks just as inviting as any other run of the mill setup.

If one is to improve his or her game, I believe that he or she should ((instead of thinking this is inside 6 feet, it's made! ---- or its a 12 footer, I just wanna get it close)) not concentrate so much on making the putt, but on speed.

Just as with any other club, you have to have the ability to hit it solid before you can work with directional control.

[Ben]

I expect to make anything from 12' and in.

Whether I actually make them or not is a different story. But that's my range.

[Titleist Man]

About 10 ft.

[iacas]

I'm truly amazed at the number of people who aren't simply saying "everything." And some really good players are saying it, too.

While I applaud the honesty, if you're one of those people I can tell you right now the key to better putting is not only standing right in front of you, it's pointing at you and laughing, too.

Pros don't even make every three footer, so if you want to answer this question as literally as possible, we'd all be saying two to three feet, or maybe even six if you're a good putter and you take "expect" to mean "51% of the time or higher."

But that's not how we take this question. When I'm putting, I expect to make it regardless of the distance. I try to make it. If you can shift you're thinking that way, you'll be a better putter instantly. [ Link ]

[nykfan4life]

^ +1. I read your article 'almost everything I know about putting' and I whole-heartedly agree - imagining a 3 food wide hole and putting it to that is stupid. I go for it every time. Sure, maybe I blow a few long distance putts a bit past the hole sometimes, but for every time that happens I hole one out.

[Grndslmhttr3]

Although I'm no pro at long-distance putts (or putts in general) I do try to make every putt. Realisticly thinking (it's not realistic to assume that I'm going to make a 50 ft putt), I expect to make most putts within 6-7 feet.

[Flatswinger]

Regardless of speed "true" putts are the easiest. But you can't be talking about greens so fast that just getting the ball started & seeing a putt go by 20', are you? With 4' of break, too?

[Flatswinger]

I've always found it easier to putt on Tour-like greens rather than the "muni-like" greens. Just FWIW. If you get the putt online, it'll go in. Slower greens, eh. All too easy to have the putt go offline.

Regardless of speed "true" putts are the easiest. But you can't be talking about tour greens so fast that just getting the ball started can send it by the hole 20', are you? And with 4' of break, too?

[Shorty]

I WANT to hole every putt.
I TRY to.

I think that many of the posters have responded to the OP as if the question was "How long does a putt have to be before you're annoyed at missing it?"
or "How long does a missed putt have to be before you can accept not making it?"

[Fourputt]

6-foot putts are tap-ins?? Dave Peltz accumulated data that show pros only make 50% of 6-foot putts! At 10-feet his data shows pros only making 10%.

Who said that 6 foot putts are tap-ins? If you truly believe what you said, then I doubt that you are a very good putter. If you don't expect to make a putt, then you probably won't. If I set up to a putt with the mind set that I have no chance to make it, I'm almost certain to make a bad stroke, and I'm more likely to 3 putt than I am to make the putt. I've holed a half dozen putts this year already in the over 40 foot range... and I almost never 3 putt. I owe that moderate success to being able to make a confident stroke on every putt I face. I'm not unrealistic, but I am confident when I have my putter in my hands. I expect every putt I hit to have a chance to go in the hole. I know that it isn't going to happen, but that doesn't change my expectations any.

[Shorty]

I expect to make any putt within 6'. I normally practice putts from 10' away or more, so for me, a 5-6' putt is a tap-in.

Oh for heavens sake. How ridiculous. There is not a player on the planet for whom a 2 footer is a tap-in, let alone 5 or 6 feet. A tap-in means you'd be happy to put up your own money to make 100 in a row. Hmmmm - I could make some serious money out of you on the putting green.

[Jay-Bird]

Any time I'm within 35 feet I expect to make it. Not that I often do, but I expect to. I actually find that the long putts are really easy to hit on the right line. To me, the reads are very visible on longer putts. It's much more a matter of getting the ball on a line through the hole than trying to

knock it in the hole, especially for longer putts. Today I drained a thirty-footer and two 12 footers. What he said:

I'm not unrealistic, but I am confident when I have my putter in my hands. I expect every putt I hit to have a chance to go in the hole. I

and what he said:

Oh for heavens sake. How ridiculous. There is not a player on the planet for whom a 2 footer is a tap-in, let alone 5 or 6 feet. A tap-in means you'd be happy to put up your own money to make 100 in a row. Hmmmm - I could make some serious money out of you on the putting green.

[Zeph]

It's all a mental game, I don't think someone become a worse putter for not expecting to hole ever putt. Everybody obviously try their best to hole every single putt. For some, expecting to hole them all is working, for others, looking at every putt except tap ins to be equal and give the same amount of preparation is their way to putt. I don't think you can say that one way of thinking is better or worse than another. In the end, your read and speed is what matters.

[HytrewQasdfg]

Obviously, different people have differing definitons of the word "expect". Some "expect" to make every put (no matter what the distance) as a sort of confidence booster. Realisticly, they know they won't make every put, but they play as though they will.

Let's try reprasing the question"

At what distance WILL you make a put 80% of the time?

[sonicblue]

I try to think of putting this way: Given your read of a particular putt , one can certainly imagine how to miss it left, and how to miss it right, as well as how to miss it long or short. Therefore, there is SOME path that is in between all of those options; i.e., a path that leads to the hole. Further, just like a basketball can be shot in via swish, front rim, back rim, etc..., there is more than just one path that will lead to the hole. There is no reason one can't roll the ball along one of those paths. When you truly believe that, every putt becomes makeable.

Saying that you don't 'expect' to make a putt, implies that you believe you're one of those 'wrong' paths, in which case you shouldn't be hitting the putt yet. IMO, there's nothing more 'chicken or egg,' 'cart before the horse,' if you will, than putting. The only way you'll consistently make putts is first to believe you can make every one.

[allin]

It's all a mental game, I don't think someone become a worse putter for not expecting to hole ever putt. Everybody obviously try their best to hole every single putt. For some, expecting to hole them all is working, for others, looking at every putt except tap ins to be equal and give the same amount of preparation is their way to putt. I don't think you can say that one way of thinking is better or worse than another. In the end, your read and speed is what matters.

Are we saying that key is expecting to make them, but accepting that you won't. If you agonize over misses, because you expected to make them, seems like a formula for getting the yips.

[MrKadash]

I expect to make any and all tap-ins, do they count? I seriously don't have expectations when putting. I only expect to get the ball rolling on my intended line and whatever happens so be it.

[svchiefs19]

i guess i phrased the question wrong. everyone "expects" to make every putt, cause if you dont expect to make it, you wouldnt putt it in the first place. however, there is a difference between being an optimist and a realist. an optimist thinks positively about everything, no matter the situation, and always looks for the birght side. thinking positve is very important in golf, but a realistic approach to golf is also important. when you hit a 50 ft putt, you obviously want it to go in, but you wont be disappointed if you miss and get it within 3 feet so you can sink the next putt. conversly, if you pull a 3 ft putt, then you be pissed out of your mind. or maybe im the only one who gets pissed when he misses a 3 footer, i dont know.

i guess a better way to look at it is, at what distance do you get mad when you miss it? like i said above, if you miss a 50 ft putt but get it to 3 ft, then id say thats a successful putt. however, if you miss a 3 footer, then thats not so successfull. another way to look at it is, at what distance do you consider a missed putt a successful put?